Fear or Faith? How Do You See Your World?
Whether you see the world, and the future, with eyes of fear or eyes of faith, is not a question of truth or of facts. Each perspective can gather ample evidence to “prove” itself. It’s a matter of choice.
Those who declare that releasing terrorists in a hostage deal means 1000 Sinwars who will endanger 10 million citizens, that giving in to terrorist demands will guarantee a repeat of October 7th, choose to adopt a perspective of fear. There is truth to these fears, no doubt, but it is a partial truth that tends to overshadow other truths, like the fact that whether or not there will be terrorists released, we will face threats, and need to rely on the Israeli security forces to protect us, or the fact that the refusal to negotiate or give in to terrorist demands in the decade since the kidnapping of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul did not do anything to prevent Hamas from kidnapping 241 Israelis on October 7th. That is the nature of a fear perspective- its overwhelming darkness swallows up everything else.
This is precisely the dynamic described in this week’s Torah portion, as Pharaoh sows the seeds of fear in his people. “Behold, the nation of Israel is great and more powerful than us. Let us outsmart them, lest they multiply, and when war comes, they will join our enemies and fight us and leave the land” (Exodus 1:9-10). It is true. The people of Israel are multiplying at a terrifying rate, they have privileged status. There are good reasons to fear them, and this fear erases all of the positive history of Joseph’s role in the country.
But even more dangerous than Pharoah’s murderous use of fear, according to a famous rabbinic Midrash (found in Sota 12a), is when the Jews themselves give in to this perspective as well. When Amram instructs the Jewish men to separate from their wives in order to prevent childbirth, he is afraid, and he isn’t completely wrong. He fears the traumas that every pregnancy will bring, he fears thousands of women having their babies torn from them, and he acts to prevent this.
Were it not for one young girl brave enough to reject the perspective of fear and adopt a perspective of faith, our story- the story of the Jewish people- would have ended there. But, “your decree is harsher than Pharaoh’s,” says Miriam, “For he only decreed against the boys, and your decree is against all children.” Instead of only thinking of the babies that will be killed, suggests Miriam- why don’t you think of the babies that will be born? Instead of only imagining all of the future traumas, why not imagine all of the future accomplishments of the girls that will be born?
And the same point must be emphasized regarding a hostage deal. When we think about our future, why should we only think of potential victims? Why not think about how many lives Kfir or Ariel might save in the future as doctors or paramedics? Why not think about how many lives Romi or Liri might touch, the discoveries Matan or Eliya might make that will improve all our lives, the people that Itzik and Alon and Omer and Tehila and Daniela will inspire?
Does all of the good that these beautiful people will do over the course of their lives not outweigh the evil that some villains may succeed to carry out?
The answer to that question depends on a choice. It’s not a choice between caring about the present over caring about the future, or caring about the individual over caring about the collective, or choosing emotions over rationality. It’s a choice whether to see the world through the eyes of fear, or to see it through Miriam’s eyes, the eyes of faith.